


Peri the Vampire Slayer

by silvermoon718



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Blood, Demons, F/F, F/M, Fighting, M/M, Magic, Rated 16+ but may change, SU characters somewhat in Buffy roles, Ships are not the main focus!, Vampires, Werewolves, Witches, dark topics, monster/magic au, no buffy knowledge needed, no major buffy spoilers, set up to not confuse people and be a bit different from Buffy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:27:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26399398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silvermoon718/pseuds/silvermoon718
Summary: It's Peridot's senior year and she's moving across the country from California to Beach City with her mom, hoping to finally escape the dark forces she's had to deal with since the start of high school and finish school like a normal person with new friends---hopefully not burning down the gym. But like always, things unfortunately end up worse than before and she has to stand up and face it.
Relationships: Amethyst/Lapis Lazuli (Steven Universe), Amethyst/Mean Lapis (Steven Universe), Amethyst/Peridot (Steven Universe), Jasper/Peridot (Steven Universe), Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe), Pearl/Rose Quartz (Steven Universe)
Kudos: 7





	1. Welcome to Hell City: A New Start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot gets ready for her first day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It'll take a while to set things up but afterwords things will be a lot more fun :3

Cryptic images passed though my mind. They all blurred into each other, making it hard to make everything out in my sleepy trance. However, I could make out a few things despite this, such as candles and torches illuminating a dark room, graveyards, creepy statues, demonic faces, limbs, and armies, ancient texts, and—it all swarmed around in my head, never letting up or allowing me to escape. I tossed and turned in my bed anxiously, hoping that it would somehow make the images cease once and for all. When the image of a grotesque vampiric face flashed through my mind, I couldn’t take it anymore. I immediately jolted awake in my bed and reached for my glasses to look around the dimly lit room surrounding me. I let out a sigh of relief that it was all a dream and looked out the window. The sun was just starting to come up and the horizon was streaked with beautiful pinks and oranges as it rose over the rolling fields and touched the leaves of the trees in the nearby forest with its faint light. Everything is so much different here compared to the urban surroundings of California that I’d grown accustomed to. My mom really isn’t much of a country person, but she chose this place in specific because she thought that it would be therapeutic for me and would hopefully keep me out of trouble. Although, we came to Beach City because she had gotten a job at the nearby hospital and my dad and her had split up recently.   
“Peridot! It’s time to wake up! You can’t be late for your first day of school,” my mom shouted up the stairs. I let out a loud groan and turned to look at my alarm clock which read 5:59 in green before flashing 6:00 and setting off the radio, which ironically played “Wake me up Before you Go-Go.”  
“I’m an adult! I don’t need you to wake me up. I was already awake and my alarm clock just went off!” I snapped before smacking the alarm off. It was annoying that she just assumed I wasn’t up. I rolled out of bed with a sigh and stood up to change into the short sleeved white top and dark skirt I’d picked out for the day. As it was my first day, I wanted to look nice. At school you have to make sure to not dress in a way that will give others a negative impression of you, such as not wearing anything nerdy, messy, slutty, etc. I’ll settle into more casual clothes once I get a good read on what the school is like. Once I finished getting dressed I grabbed she school bag I’d prepared and headed downstairs.  
“So, what makes you think that you can talk to me with that kind of tone, Young Lady?” My mom asked when I turned around the corner into the kitchen. Her arms were crossed and her eyebrow was raised. Her dark eyes narrowed.  
“I don’t know,” I shrugged carelessly before walking to the front door and sitting down to put my black leather boots on. My mom sighed.  
“You know, if I had another daughter, I’d raise her to not have the attitude that you have and be more respectful.” I finished tugging my boots on and stood up to face her. “And I’d also teach her to be more modest. Button your shirt up.”  
I looked down at my chest and reluctantly buttoned up the top of my shirt like she wanted. That made her happier.  
“Okay, now let’s head out so we can make it on time. Here’s some granola bars that you can eat in the car for breakfast. Just make sure to not get crumbs anywhere.” She handed them to me and walked past me to head out the door and start the car. I followed behind her and sat down in the shotgun seat.   
The first few minutes of the car ride were pretty silent other than the sound of me slowly eating the first of the two granola bars. The sun was quite a bit higher than before and you could now see the colors of the countryside. I finished the granola bar and piped up.  
“Next time you go to the grocery store, can you pick up some Pop-Tarts?” I was pretty sick of granola bars at this point.  
“No, Pop-Tarts are very unhealthy for you. And aren’t you an adult? If you want Pop-Tarts so badly, drive to the store and get them yourself. Not that that’s a smart idea.”  
I didn’t respond to her. I just unwrapped the second granola bar and took an angry bite to the tasteless cluster of grain and chewed it bitterly. We didn’t talk for the rest of the ride.  
When we pulled up to the curb of the school, the sun was fully up. The green grass of the school lawn shown brightly up against the grey of the concrete sidewalk beside it. Students of all sorts walked about as they socialized and got ready for class. I stepped out of the vehicle and onto the sidewalk after closing the door behind me. My mom rolled the window down and I turned to face her.  
“Don’t worry Peridot, you’ll do good. You’ll make tons of friends. Though, maybe this time try to avoid the trouble makers and rebels. You should hang out with some of the quiet kids that like books, they’re pretty interesting.”   
“M’kay,” I said halfheartedly and turned to walk away.  
“Peridot?” I turned back towards her.  
“Please try to avoid getting kicked out this time. I know you’re smart, so I hope I can trust that you’ll be on your best behavior, okay? I love you.”  
“You too,” I said before she pulled out of the lot to leave for work. Once I was sure she had disappeared, I unbuttoned the top of my shirt to how I’d had it before. It had looked tacky with all the buttons in. I took my Nokia phone out of my bag and checked the time. It was seven AM now and I had to go meet with the principal before classes started. I took a deep breath and started my way up the concrete steps to the school. It was time to begin my first day at Beach City High.

* * *

A girl raced down the sidewalk on her worn skateboard. Her long ponytail blew in the wind. It was dyed a light lilac color and stuck out the back of a black and white ball cap with a star on it. How she’d fit that mass of hair through that small hole was a mystery. She wore a white t-shirt tucked in her jeans with the sleeves rolled up. It looked a bit tacky, but she could care less. Her jeans were a grayish color and her brown knees peeked out of the ripped holes in them. She kicked against the ground to move her skateboard forward, the soles of her black converse pushing against the concrete. She maneuvered her skateboard through the crowded sidewalks full of students getting to school, warning them of her presence before she crashed into them. This was often responded to with many colorful remarks, some being similar to, “Watch it, shorty.” That was definitely on of the better ones. Not many kids knew her or liked her and the only friends she had her age were people she was related to. She brushed off the comments and continued to skate by, feeling the fresh morning breeze.   
Her concentration was centered fully on keeping balance, focusing on her surroundings, and looking cool. However, that all came to a halt when her eyes laid upon the figure of a girl she hadn’t seen before. All she could see was her back, as she was walking up the concrete steps to the school, but that was definitely enough to attract her attention. The girl’s thick blonde hair looked so soft, she had nice curves, and that skirt—BANG! With her focus all on the unfamiliar girl, the skater had completely lost her balance and crashed into the concrete steps, banging her head against its steel railing.   
“Owww,” she moaned in pain as she rubbed her head. Once she’d regained her wits, she quickly whipped it around to look for the girl again. She had disappeared, much to her dismay. She hoped that the girl wasn’t a freshman as that’s what most new kids were. If that were the case, she’d be no better than those disgusting senior boys that check out the new freshman girls for piggish reasons. She did not want to be like that.   
“Are you okay?” asked a voice above her. She turned her head back around to see a boy with dark brown eyes and hair looking down at her worriedly.  
“I’m fine, just lost control. That’s all,” she said as the boy helped her up and handed her the skateboard.  
“I heard you bang your head, so I came running over here as soon as possible.”  
“Thanks Steven, I’m glad that someone in this school cared enough to see if I was okay. And not to mention that it’s your first day here!” She remarked as they walked up the steps to the school.  
“I’m so excited to be going into high school! Or just public school in general...”  
“Trust me, it’s really not that exciting.”  
“Eh, maybe things will be different for me. At least I’m excited about something after what happened to my dad.” Steven’s eyes wandered away.  
“Oh yeah... Um, if you don’t mind me asking, what did happen to him?” She didn’t want to talk about it too much since she knew that it was really hard for him, but she was also a little bit curious as Steven never mentioned what happened.   
“My mom told me that I’m not allowed to tell anyone, sorry. But, I do understand why...” This perplexed her, not the fact that it was left a mystery, but the fact that Steven apologized for that. He didn’t do anything wrong and no kid should have to go through that.   
“So... uh what made you fall down earlier?” He asked her, trying to change the topic. She figured that was also a good idea, so she answered him like everything was normal.  
“Oh! Uh, I saw this new girl and she had me really distracted.”  
“Do you think she was a freshman? It’d be nice to have a girl my age to hang out with.”  
“I don’t know, but I hope she wasn’t.”  
“Oh...” He processed what she’d meant by that. “Well, maybe you’ll get a chance to talk to her today!” They entered the school building and a blonde boy about Steven’s age jumped out from behind the corner at them  
“Hey, Steven!” He exclaimed.  
“Hi Peedee! How are you doing?” Steven replied in a cheerful tone.  
“I’m doing great! Did you see the senior girls? They’re pretty.”  
The girl started laughing at this, “Ha! Classic freshman boys, y’all need to slow down. I just hope that some of the other senior girls secretly think that I’m pretty.”  
“Aren’t you the only one that’s relatively open about your sexuality though? That could be the case...” Steven started to say.  
“Uh, Steven? We should probably get over to the freshman lockers to get our stuff ready before class,” Peedee said as he checked the time on his watch.  
“Oh yeah! I’ll see you later Amethyst,” Steven said to her.  
“You too, buddy.” Amethyst replied as she gave him a hug before they parted ways. Once the boys had left, she made her way to her own locker as she took her hat off and fixed her hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wrote this back in May, but was going to make it longer. Since it was already at almost 2000 words I published what I had. I'm not nearly as into SU now so idk how far this will go, but I really want to continue and get to the interesting stuff rather than the more boring set up.


	2. Welcome to Hell City: New People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peridot meets some new people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is going to be one thing here that will be a bit confusing. My reason for doing this will be explained at the end.

“So, you’re Peridot Gladioli and your mother is Priyanka Summers?” the school principal asked me.

“Yeah.” 

“I’m assuming your last name is from your father then?"

“Can we get onto the reason why I was requested to meet here with you?”

“I suppose so. Now, I see that you transferred here from California. Homestead High School? Not too far from the big city of San Francisco. It would seem that you had quite the history there.” He looked at the papers on his desk. I was going to say something in response to that, but he then did something that blew my mind. He picked up my record and sent it through the paper shredder sitting on his desk. I watched in shock as the shreds of paper drifted into the garbage. 

“But, that’s behind us now. We’re going to leave all that old stuff on the other side of the country. Beach City High is going to be a new start for you, those old records are history,” he continued.

“That’s something I like to hear. But… uh.. don’t you need to hang on to that?” I looked at the remnants of the paper in the trash. 

“Shit!” He quickly tried sifting through the can to see if there was anything to salvage, not even realizing that he swore in front of a student--- a big no no in high school. 

“Well, so much for that…” he sighed in defeat. 

“Anyways… My transcripts probably make me seem like a bit of a clod, amongst other things. But as strange as all that was, I am certainly grateful for the chance to start over here,” I assured him.

“Yes, of course. However, I’m not entirely sure that strange is a strong enough word to describe that, Miss Peridot.”

“Deviant? Abnormal? Bizarre? Incongr--”

“I’m not an English teacher. Though, I don’t know if those would describe it either. I got an email describing it as infernomageddon.” 

“WOAH. That is quite the colorful description. I don’t think it was _that_ bad.”

“Peridot, you lit the entire school gym on fire.”

“I had no choice! The place was literally infested with vampi--” I stopped myself immediately when I realized I’d accidentally said too much. The principal was eying me strangely. “I mean rats! I just accidentally mix up vamps and haunt a lot and rats transmit hantavirus, which is really bad and fire kills rats…” I really hope that didn’t seem too off or awkward... What a cloddy mistake. 

“Look, if this were a different school you would be walking on glass to not be expelled. Here, you will be free to make the right decisions and start over fresh before college. Although, if you don’t make the right decisions--” he put another paper through the shredder, sending chills down my spine. “--we’ll have issues.”

“What was that?” I asked wearily.

“Oh, just an old paper. You’re free to go. Have a nice day!” He smiled and gestured for me to leave.

* * *

_Oh! You’ll get to start all over here and we’re really nice and won’t judge you for all the shit you did at other schools! Ha ha, just kidding. Watch your back because you’re done for if you step out of line._ Yeah, that was pretty much the message I got from that meeting. I let out a little sigh as I walked out the office door. That doesn’t matter. I’m still starting over here and there will be nothing to stop that. However, I do need to make sure not to bring up stuff like vampires again. People can’t know about any of tha- the tip of my boot hooked on a tiny piece of uneven tile and sent me falling onto the ground along with causing all the stuff in my bookbag to scatter.

“Great! This is just perfect! What a cloddy way to start my first day. I’m such a stupid clod. Why do I have to trip on literally everything?” I muttered and growled under my breath in irritation as I scrambled to pick everything up before anyone saw. I could hear some footsteps coming in my direction but ignored it as I continued to pick my stuff up. 

“Can I ask you out?”

“What?” I asked, not hearing correctly. I looked up to see a girl almost my height with tan skin and brown eyes. Her hair was dyed purple but I could see her dark brown roots coming in.

“Uh… I asked if I could help you out,” she replied.

“Oh. Wow, thanks.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before, have I?” she asked as she picked up some of my notebooks. 

“Nope, I’m a new student from a different school. My name is Peridot.”

“Oh cool! My name is Amethyst. Hi...”

“Hi. Thanks for helping me,” I said as I put the last item back in my bag. 

“No problem dude, maybe I’ll see you later in the hall or something since that’s where… we uh, walk.”

“Cool.” I stood up and faced her. Yeah, she had to be almost an inch shorter than me. “I’ll see you in the hallway then, unless we end up having a class together.”

“Are you a senior?”

“Yep! Are you?”

“Yeah!” She smiled. “Some people don’t really get that though, as I’m pretty short.”

“I can definitely relate to that. But, uh, I need to get to class. It was nice meeting you!” I walked off, leaving her behind. My mind was now completely focused on making it to my drama class on time as to not make a fool of myself in front of my peers again.

* * *

I thankfully made it to my first class on time without looking too out of place. The only problem I had was that I didn’t have a copy of the play we were reading, and everyone knows how much teachers love it when you don’t bring your required materials. She thankfully let it slide because it was the first day and I was new. The girl sitting next to me let me look at her copy, which was really nice of her. She was a taller girl with chocolate brown hair that curled up on her cheeks, a lot more than mine did, and she had dark blue eyes. She dressed really nice too. The play was pretty interesting and when class was over we started talking a bit.

“So, your name is Lapis?” I asked.

“No, the teacher just likes to refer to me by my last name. My first name is Cordelia, though my close friends usually call me Cordy. I hear you’re from California?” she asked.

“Yep! Cupertino, not too far from L.A.,” I replied as I walked to the door and followed her out into the hallway.

“Sweet, I’d give anything to live there. It’d be amazing to be by all those malls and go shopping or hang out at a beach free from all the weird people in this town.”

“Yeah, the beaches there are pretty great.”

“Now, you’ll be able to find a copy of _Twelfth Night_ at the library. I’ll show you where it is. I mainly just took this class to get an easy English credit, but I'll help you if you need me too.”

“Thanks, that’s really nice of you.”

“No problem. You’ll fit in in no time if you hang out with me and the rest of my friends. That is, if you’d like to.”

“I’d love to! You seem cool.”

“Thanks. Normally I’d test people before hanging out with us, but you seem cool too.”

“Thank you.”

Cordelia and I continued our trek through the hall as she led me to the library, but she halted to a stop when she came across a boy with dark curly hair.

“But he, isn’t cool.” Cordy walked up to him and he turned to look up at her with his brown eyes. She smirked evilly at him.

“You’re a freshman, I’m assuming?”

“Yeah, my name is Steven. It’s nice to meet you.” He smiled and held out his hand to shake.

“Your face is a little red, have you been crying?” She asked.

“Wuh-”

“Look, I think you should probably know this by now, but handshaking? Not a very good way to make an impression on someone. And crying on the first day of school? Pitiful.”

“Hey! Crying is completely normal and it's unrelated to that. You should mind your own business,” Steven replied bluntly, though I could tell he was holding back tears. 

“And you should get out of my way.”

“What?” He looked to see that he was standing directly in the hallway traffic. Cordelia raised her eyebrow at him.

“I need to be somewhere.” He put his head down and walked away. It was a decent way to avoid the situation while not completely giving into her. I’m certainly starting to think that I was wrong about Cordelia being nice. Hopefully Steven will be alright.

“So, you’re definitely going to want to stay away from people like him and other weirdos if you want to fit in. It’s easier to avoid them once you know what they look like. Avoiding Freshman in general is basically a given too,” Cordelia told me as we continued walking. I wonder how far away the library is. 

“Ooh! I forgot to mention this earlier, but if you’re free tonight, you should totally come down to Twilight Coast.”

“And that is…?”

“It’s a club, pretty much the best place to hang out in Beach City. It’s pretty easy to get in, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t awesome. It’s located a bit away from town, near the coastline. Maybe a mile or two down the beach from the docks. You should definitely check it out!”

“Great, sounds cool.”

“Here’s the library,” she said, gesturing to a double set of doors, making the library entrance stand out from the classrooms. 

“I’ll see you later in biology, then we can learn all about each other!” she exclaimed as she left me to explore the library. Yeah, I don’t know if I want to spend more time with her. I may have to go down to Twilight Coast though, it seems pretty cool and worth checking out even if she'll be there. Hopefully I can go without Mom knowing. She’d totally kill me if she knew I went to a club.

I slowly opened up the dual doors to walk into the library. It was dimly lit but I could see that the room was wide with two floor levels of books. It had a few wooden tables and some lounging areas to read in as well. The look of it was pretty rustic, but I liked the feel of it. Some may find that creepy, but I didn’t. I walked around the room looking to see if anyone was around, but the only thing I really noticed was a newspaper lying out. I looked to see that it was open on an article about some missing kids. Very strange...

“Gah!” I exclaimed when I felt a cold hand touch my back. I whipped around to see a thin woman with pale skin. Good thing that pale skin isn’t actually a telltale sign of a vampire because I probably would’ve poofed her in an instant for jumpscaring me like that.

“Do you need help with anything?” She asked me.

“Oh, uh, yeah. I was wondering if I could get a copy of _Twelfth Night_ and any other textbooks I might need. I’m new,” I responded, regaining my wits.

“Peridot, I presume?”

“Yeah. I’m assuming that all the teachers were told of me.”

“I heard that you’d be coming. My name is Pearl Halite, the librarian here.”

“That’s great. It’s nice to meet you.” 

Pearl then went around the main desk that all librarians have and knelt down to get a book out of a box and set it down on top for me.

“The book copies for classes are usually kept behind here. I think you’ll just be needing one more book as of now.”

“Thank you, that's really helpf-” She slammed a giant book down onto the desk and I lost my entire train of thought when my eyes laid upon the front text of the ancient-looking cover. Spelt in all caps was _VAMPYR_ , sending chills down my back. It had been the _exact_ ancient textbook I saw in my nightmare. Why did she have this and why was she giving it to me?

“I don’t think that’s required,” I said apprehensively.

“I think it is.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Oh, I guess not. Sorry.” She went back behind the desk again to put the book back and as soon as her eyes went below the counter I snatched my copy of _Twelfth Night_ and ran out.

I had zero intentions of going back. I needed to think of anything but this. Camp Pining Hearts maybe? Yeah. The season four finale is going to be this weekend and I’m really excited to see what season five brings in. Hopefully more Piercy content! Yes. I can definitely focus on CPH. What creepy library incident with a creepy book and a creepy librarian? That never happened. Not today. Not now. I’m leaving that behind me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The human name I have for Curly/Mean Lapis is Cordelia and since that's somewhat her role here, it's a bit confusing. I just liked that name for her because Curly transfers to Cordy well and Cordelia is one of those names that someone like Curly would have. (I mean, that is partially her role for a reason...)
> 
> I'll stay more away from how the Buffy episode is laid out once I set things up.


	3. Welcome to Hell City: Dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did my best to get a chapter out for October since it's spooky month! 
> 
> I got a little more loose for this chapter and I'm still hoping to get even further from the Buffy episode outlines once I get past the set up.

_Amethyst_

“Guess who I talked to!” I exclaimed, sliding down onto a bench to sit by Steven.

“I don’t know, but judging by your excitement, you probably talked to that girl you saw this morning,” he said, taking out his sandwich for lunch.

“Yep! Her name is Peridot and she’s a senior. I was right about her being pretty too!” I smiled. “I wasn’t too smooth with introducing myself though. I just hope I didn’t sound pathetic.”

“That’s good.”

“So, how has your first day been?” I asked him.

“Not the best… one of my classes had us do some introduction stuff and a kid asked me why I only said stuff about my mom. You can guess how that went. Then when I was walking to my next class I got stopped by a girl in the hallway who bullied me for no reason. There was another girl with her that just looked confused by her behavior. I stood up to her a little, did my best not to cry in front of her, and just left the situation before it got any worse. Things were a bit better after that at least.”

“Come here,” I said softly. He came closer and let me hug him. I could feel him start to tear up again as my shoulder started to feel a bit damp. If I get my hands on this girl, she’s in for it. Why do people think this bullshit is funny?

“I think she was a senior,” he told me. 

“Wait, was she kinda tall? Curly hair?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Fuckin’ Curly,” I muttered. 

“You know her?”

“Uh, yeah. She’s basically the queen bee in our grade. She acts like she’s better than anyone else.”  _ And although I hate to admit it, she’s hot.  _

“I’ve heard about people like that.”

“Just try to avoid her if you can. Her gang as well. I’ll point them out to you when I get the chance.”

“Are any of them short with thick blonde hair and green eyes?”

“Uh, no. Why do you ask?”

“That’s what the girl who was with Curly looked like.”

“Yeah, that description sounds more like Peri--oh shit she’s hanging out with Curly!? Not good. Not good at all.” If she’s hanging out with her group, then I’m screwed. And maybe worse, I’ll have another girl teasing me as well.

“Eh, maybe she just doesn’t know yet because she’s new,” Steven suggested. 

“Right. But listen, if you ever need anything from me, or if you want me to go talk some sense into Curly, all you have to do is ask. Okay?”

“Sounds good. Thanks for the hug too, I needed that,” he said as he let go. “But now, I think i need to finish eating before I have to go to my next class.”

“Yeah, I do too.”

After that the two of us sat on our bench in peace as we ate our lunch. We didn’t really need to talk, but just being by each other was enough. It was nice outside, the early September breeze felt nice as it shifted my hair and the noise from the other groups of teenagers wasn’t too horrible either. Steven seemed to be calming down a lot more too now that he was with someone he was comfortable with and had a chance to breath and collect his thoughts. Peedee came over and sat by us too, his day seemed like it had been going okay, and Steven was glad to see him. I really wish I had a friend like that in my grade. It sucks being alone. I manage to survive at least, and it's better than faking everything just to be accepted, but I still wish I had someone. 

“Oh! You two are friends?” a familiar voice asked as it approached us. I turned to see Peridot and tried to keep my eyes from drifting down to where she had her top unbuttoned.

“Uh, yeah we are,” I told her. 

“It’s nice to see you again, Amethyst,” she said to me with a smile. 

“And it's not in the hallway!” 

“Heh, yeah. And you’re Steven, right?” she asked him. 

“Yeah.”

“Is it cool if I hang out with you guys until I have to go to my next class?”

“Yes of course!” I said a bit too quickly. “But, um, aren’t you and Curly hanging out already?”

“Oh, do you mean Cordelia? Yeah, I don’t know exactly how I feel about her yet. She’s been nice to  _ me _ , but the way she treated Steven was kind of cloddy.” She turned and looked at him. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine now.”

“That’s good to hear.” Peridot then paused before asking, “So, why do you call her Curly?”

“Eh, nothing complicated. Just a nickname we gave her because of her curly hair. She hates it when we call her that, which makes it all the more fun,” I responded.

“Ah. Makes sense.”

“Anyways, other than being attractive, she doesn’t really have much going for her. She’s a bitch who bullies pretty much anyone who she thinks is strange.”

“I could tell.”

“And speaking of strange,” I started to say as I pulled a wooden stake out of my bag, “I forgot to give this back to you when I was helping you with your stuff this morning.” 

Peridot froze when she saw it. 

“Oh! I think I’ve seen some of those in my mom’s bedroom one time,” Steven exclaimed.

“Why would she…” Peridot trailed off before shaking her head and snatching the stake from me, shoving it back into her bag frantically as if that were something she didn’t want anyone to see.

“The only reason I would think anyone would have that is to kill vampires like in all those movies--I like horror movies--but vampires aren’t real of course, so I don’t know,” I said.

“Of course that shit isn’t real! What kind of cloddy idea is that?!” She laughed awkwardly. “They’re for gardening! Making the stakes myself is pretty cost efficient. I use them to make nice rows by sticking one on each end and tying a string across.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

“Yeah! My mom loves gardening too, so that’s probably why she has some as well,” Steven added.

“Anyways, changing the topic, you haven’t told me who this is yet,” Peridot said, referring to Peedee who’d just been sitting there. 

“Hi, I’m Peedee.” He waved. 

“Peridot,” she replied, waving back. 

“So, if we’re hanging out, shouldn’t we get to know each other?” I asked.

“What kind of things do you want to know?” 

“Oh, just the basics. Such as where you live, your debit card number, your insurance provider, do you like girls, your date of birth, your social security number, and your bank account information. Those kinds of things,” I told her. Although this was clearly a joke, I did hope she’d respond to one of those items.

“Okay, do you want an insurance claim on me so you can kill me and get all my money as well?” she asked, playing along.

“I think that only works if we’re married.”

“Sorry, but I don’t really know you,” she said with a snicker.

“Too bad.” I pretended to shoot her with finger guns.

“You’re quite the goofball, aren’t you?”

“She really is, it’s a lot of fun hanging out with her,” Steven remarked.

“You’re a goofball too, bro,” I laughed as I rustled his hair teasingly.

“Well, I will respond to a few of those that I picked up on. I’m totally going to lend you my social security card. Nah, but my birthday was August fifth and I moved out into the country. It’s pretty nice out there. I might grow some corn next year,” Peridot told us.

“Fun! Is there anything else about you?” Steven asked.

“Yeah, like any dark secrets you’re hiding away?” I joked.

“Wow, you guys really want to know me…”

“Eh, we don’t really have much going on and we don’t normally get new students, as we usually have kids leave instead, so you’re big news I guess,” I said with a shrug.

“I’m really not big news…” Peridot said wearily. “I’m just a normal girl who wants to fit into her new school.”

“Makes sense, I am too. What sort of things do you do for fun, other than gardening like you stated?” Steven asked her. 

“Nothing much, just watching  _ Camp Pining Hearts. _ ”

“I love CPH!” Steven exclaimed. “Are you excited for the season four finale? You should totally come over to my place to watch it with me. As long as my mom says it's okay, that is. Amethyst likes it too.”

“It’s  _ funny _ . It’s also fun mimicking their voices. I can do Percy’s voice pretty well. Although I think I might relate to Pierre more, although he's a werewolf. I swear to God, Peony looks like Steven’s mom,” I responded.

“Yeah, I can see that.”

I glanced back at Peridot, who had a big smile on her face. I guess she was really happy that she found people who watch the same show as her. She must be really passionate about it. And I have to say, that smile was adorable.

“Although, I can’t stand it when Paulette is on screen. She’s so whiny. It is fun to make fun of her though,” I added.

“Oh my stars, Paulette is literally the worst!” Peridot exclaimed. “I could go on a long rant about that, but I’ll control myself. She needs to be written off the show. Plus, that would make room for my ship to potentially become cannon.”

“What’s your ship?” Steven asked.

“Percy and Pierre! They’re just so perfect for each other and they need to kiss.” Peridot waved her hands energetically with all the excitement she had for her ship. The same ship that I had. “I just love them so much!”

“I like a lot of different ships, Piercy is definitely a good one though. I know it’s Amethyst’s favorite,” Steven said.

“It’s so cute when they pull pranks together! It’s so much fun and you can really see how much Percy is himself when he’s around Pierre rather than Paulette. Sadly most people don’t ship them since it’s gay,” I responded.

“Pfft. People are just stupid. I have no problem with relationships like that, and my mom has always said that it’s a normal thing and there’s nothing wrong with it. She works at the hospital, so she’s studied a lot of things along that line in school,” Peridot said.

“That’s great to hear. I’m bisexual with a preference towards girls and I don’t really hear too many people say they support people like me.”

“People like that are clods.”

“So, what’s your favorite moment between Percy and Pierre?”

“There’s a lot, but I’d have to go with when Pierre ran away after discovering he was a werewolf and Percy came after him to bring him back. His whole speech to Pierre was beautiful! I was dead.”

“I really wish I could talk with all of you about this, it seems interesting. I haven’t seen  _ Camp Pining Hearts,  _ so I can’t really follow,” Peedee said.

“Oh we should all binge it before the season four finale! Then you can see it, Peedee! I have all the episodes recorded on VHS. It’ll be so much fun!” Steven exclaimed.

“That sounds pretty fun,” he replied.

“Yeah!” Peridot and I agreed.

“Cool, I’ll just ask my mom. She’ll probably end up watching it too, knowing her.” 

“Are these guys bothering you?” A voice said from behind us, directed at Peridot. I immediately recognized this as Curly. She has such a nice voice, too bad she uses it to be a bitch. I caught Peedee looking at her with a look that I knew all too well. He has no idea. I’m ready to throw hands with her after what happened with Steven. 

“No, they aren’t,” Peridot replied.

“She wants nothing to do with us,” I told Curly, getting a look from Peridot.

“Hi…” Peedee started to say to her, getting an eye roll.

“I don’t want to get in the way of you socializing with little kids and a lesbian, but--” Curly started to say before I interrupted.

“I’m not a lesbian.”

“Yeah, you are.”

“No, I’m bi.”

“But you like girls.”

“The correct term for that is sapphic.”

“Ugh.”

“How do I know you aren’t?” I joked, trying to get under her skin. She scoffed at me. I love having conversations like this with her. In the midst of that I had forgotten what she did to Steven, but I quickly remembered. I gave her a good punch in the arm.

“Ow! What was that for?” 

“Picking on Steven. If I ever hear that you did something like that again, there’s more where that came from.”

“It’s not my fault he’s so pitiful.”

“Fuck you.”

“Oh Amethyst, you  _ wish _ .” 

Bitch. These conversations usually end on a note akin to this, whether I win or she does. The only response I had to that was to growl at her. Curly sighed in annoyance.

“I regret coming over here. But as I was  _ saying _ , Peridot, I just wanted to let you know that biology class got cancelled today because there was some dead chick shoved behind the waiters!”

“What?” Peridot asked, her eyes wide.

“There’s a dead person?” Steven wondered.

“There was a dead girl behind where the waiters used for stream ecology units are hung up, as if they didn’t smell bad enough already,” Curly responded.

“Dead?” Peridot questioned.

“Uh, yeah. Like she’s completely dead.”

“So she’s not just slightly dead then?” I said, joking about her wording.

“Shouldn’t you be on your way to your next class?”

I scoffed at her.

“Did anyone say how she died? Like marks or anything?” Peridot asked her.

“Uh, no. Why would you even want to know that?”

“Nevermind. I’m going to try to get the last of my orientation stuff done during this time since class is cancelled. I have to go.” Peridot got up and marched back into the school on a mission. 

“What’s her problem?” Curly questioned.

“What’s yours?” I asked, though I too wondered what was up with Peridot. 

“I’m leaving.”

“Good.”


	4. Welcome to Hell City: What Could go Wrong?

_Peridot_

Sometimes, the world likes to trick you into thinking that things might be going right for a change. A trick like this happens so rarely, but when it does happen, you feel like things are finally going your way. At least, that’s what it felt like for me. In that moment, I had truly felt like myself. Nothing relating to my perilous job, no hiding my interests and quirks. Just acceptance. But, all that is is a mere trick and it never lasts.

Talking to Steven and Amethyst was amazing and they’d made me almost forget about the creepy library incident. I’d never been able to talk to anyone about Camp Pining Hearts like that unless you count public chats on AOL, which are an absolute disaster. They were so much fun to talk with and Amethyst’s witty humor amused me. How simple was it to be invited over to someone’s house to hang out with just a casual conversation? I never thought anything like that was possible. The idea of hanging out with them to watch Camp Pining Hearts seemed like a blast, as long as Steven’s mom was cool with it of course. But, it only took Cordelia to come over with news of a dead student for that comfort to dissipate and reality to come rushing back. I was almost on the verge of tears as I darted through the hallway. My black boots pounded on the linoleum floor as I raced through the school to find room D-119. As printed on my schedule, that was the biology classroom. 

I made it to the doorway and peered around to make sure the coast was clear. I looked through the narrow door window to see that the classroom was vacant. All the lights were off and the only lighting was from the sunlight sneaking through the cracks in the blinds, allowing me to see in its dim illumination. When my eyes made it to the right side of the room I could see the waiters hanging up not too far from the doorway. I slowly panned my eyes down onto the floor where the unmistakable shape of the body was covered by a fire blanket until the proper people came to take care of it. After that, I looked around the hall one last time to make sure nobody was watching, and opened up the door that thankfully wasn’t locked. 

When I got inside, I knelt down by the body and lifted up the part of the fire blanket that had been covering the student’s head. Her face was pale and lifeless, but so young. Too young to be dead. It seemed like the blood had been drained out of her. My eyes moved down to her neck and I only had one thing to say. 

“Well, that’s just great. Isn’t it?” I muttered sarcastically. Her neck had two bloody puncture wounds, about a mouth’s length apart. First it was that dumb book, and now this. All in my first day here. I immediately covered the body back up and whizzed out of the classroom before anyone saw me, sure to not leave a trace. I was going to get answers. 

* * *

I flung the library doors open full force as I marched in through the entrance. The librarian perked her head up to look at me. She was up on a higher level, her pale skin standing out in the dim lighting of the library. If I hadn’t known any better, I’d assume that she was--nah, I’m not going to jump to any conclusions. 

“So, things seem awfully strange around here, wouldn’t  _ you  _ think?” I questioned as I turned to face her. 

“Well, uh--” she started to say.

“I assume that you’ve heard of the dead girl found in the biology room by now?”

“Yes, I--”

“Interesting thing about that. She had two lil puncture wounds that were perfectly linear and about an inch or so apart. And on another note, all of her blood has been drained,” I said as I walked up the steps, getting closer to her. Her light blue eyes didn’t even express the confusion I’d hoped they would. “Don’t you think that’s kind of strange?”

“Oh dear, I was worried that may be the case.” That was all she had to say?

“Well I shouldn’t have to worry about this kind of thing. I just moved here, and now this is happening? I should be worried about things like making friends, showing my nerdy side, staying out of trouble for my last year, getting into college, and what I want to do when I’m done with school. I should not be here to worry about vampires.”

“Why did you come here then?”

“To tell you that I don’t give a crap about this... I’m just going to leave,” I said as I turned to exit. I didn’t even want to bother asking her about that dumb book anymore. 

“Will she get up again?” the librarian asked me. 

“Nah, she’s completely dead. If she’d had the vampire’s blood during the incident, then she'd be a vampire as well. That’s rare though. Normally you’re just going to get killed… I’m actually going to leave now!”

“Do you think that it’s some sort of coincidence that you’ve come to this town? When this is happening?”

“Uh, no I don’t. I’m only here because my parents divorced and my mom moved here because she was hired to work at the hospital. She wanted the two of us to have a fresh start. I wanted a fresh start!” I seethed. 

“I’m sorry, but there’s a different reason you’re here and there’s a reason why it is now. You are the Slayer after all,” she pointed out. 

“Uh yeah, I know. I’m a special girl. The only one in the entire world who has magical powers like super strength to help me kill stupid people with fangs. Wow! So special,” I said sarcastically. 

“Well… pretty much… but it’s a lot more prophetic than that.”

“Yeah, and who do you think you are to tell me that?” 

“I’m a Watcher.”

“A Watcher? Oh please. I’d guess you to be a vampire before that, what with your pale skin and lurking around this dark library. Watchers are a group of middle-aged men who “watch” the Slayer slay. Huh, it’s kinda creepy if you put it like that. Anyways, lady, I ain’t buying it.” 

“Well first of all, no, they aren’t all men. And second, it’s a lot more than that. Also, I told you my name this morning!”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I only heard it once and after I left, I was a bit too busy thinking about the fact that you slammed down a creepy fricken book in front of me without warning ya clod!”

“Is that anyway to talk to someone?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. 

I hissed at her. She let out a sigh of annoyance. 

“Watchers train the Slayer to fight and prepare her to take on her many enemies.”

“I know that,” I responded.

“Peridot, you can call me Pearl.”

“Wow, I’m on a first name basis with the creepy librarian. Why?”

“Eh, I don’t feel that old yet and it feels weird to be called Ms. Halite.”

“How old are you?

“I don’t know if that’s a good question to ask, but I’m twenty-nine.” 

“And you’re a Watcher?”

“Yes.”

“God. What are you doing with your life?”

“I’m to be your Watcher.”

“Sorry, but I already had a Watcher, and he’s dead now.”

“Yes, that’s why I’m here. I’m supposed to be your new Watcher and help you grow as the Slayer.”

“Sorry, but that’s not going to happen. I’m done being the Slayer and that’d be a death wish for you anyways. I moved here to get away from slaying!”

“But you have to--”

“I have to  _ what _ ? Get my teacher killed and get any friends who get caught up in it killed? Oh wait! Maybe I could avoid that by not making friends or blowing off the friends I do have all the time with no proper explanation until they leave me because of that or because of how weird I’m always acting? Yes. I have to do that. I have to go commit arson on the school gym and get expelled too! I can’t even say why without anyone thinking I’m even more of a crazy person! I’m lucky that my mom is even still alive at this point! She too thinks I’m ‘troubled’ but she can’t leave me like everyone else because she’s my mom. We keep fighting because I’m always on edge and pissed off all the time, but I can’t even tell her why! She has offered to pay for therapy if I want it, and I actually think that’s a good idea. But wait! I can’t possibly talk about these issues with anyone because once again, I can’t talk to anyone about this lest they think I’m batshit crazy! I’m all alone here and I’m not doing this again.” I took off my glasses and wiped my eyes. Pearl was quiet. 

I put my glasses back on and looked her in the eye. “Now go on. Train me for that.” She remained speechless as if she were trying to think of the right response. 

“Why don’t you kill them,” I muttered as I went to leave for the third time. I almost made it to the doors when she spoke up again.

“You know, there’s a lot more than just vampires.”

“What?” I stopped again.

“There’s also many types of demons, zombies, werewolves, you name it. Besides, I should avoid taking the measures needed to take out more powerful foes.”

“Why?” That seemed like a rather strange thing to say and it seemed more pressing than the information that more creatures outside of vamps existed.

“It’s personal. But nevermind that. This town seems to have very strange occurrences and attracts many creatures outside of vampires. It’s rather mysterious. All of these things seem to be getting worse and these supernatural occurrences have been accumulating over time. This has to be why you’re here. Especially now. I think something big is going to happen soon, and it’s not going to be pretty. Look, I can understand not wanting to get involved in this stuff anymore, but if you don’t do anything about it, something really bad will happen.”

“Yes, because Beach City is such a big an’ scary place,” I said as I rolled my eyes. “Look, I need to get to my next class, so could you please let me go?”

“Very well, have a good day.” She said with a sigh, knowing the importance of getting to class. And with that, I finally got to leave.

A good day? This is far from it. Let’s have a checklist while I’m at it. First I have a tiny quarrel with my mom, then I get threatened by the principal, I trip in the hall, I find out that the first person who wants to be my friend is a bitch, I meet the creepy librarian, I finally get my hopes up, those hopes are crushed by the worst thing that could possibly happen, I am bombarded by the very thing I have sworn to not affiliate myself with again, and I’m now going to be late for my next class. 

* * *

My last class went pretty smoothly other than being late. It was Creative Writing so I let myself go to a different place other than when we had to do introduction things. My schedule was pretty simple. I just had Drama and Lifetime Activities before going to Homeroom and then lunch. Lifetime Activities, a gym class, was okay compared to the rest of my day. Amethyst was in that class too, as the teacher had called her name only for her to have been absent. She probably thinks I’m weird now after I ran out of lunch period like that. I think the worst thing in Lifetime Activities was that some of the guys in the class were eyeing me up, and that made me super uncomfortable. I was thankful when I got to go to the girls’ locker room to get my locker. When Creative Writing was over and it was time to leave, I was more than ready to do so. I went downstairs to get my belongings out of my locker and went outside to find my mom’s silver sedan waiting in the parking lot. I took a deep breath and got in with her as she asked me about my first day of senior year.

She was pretty proud of me from what I’d told her, which was mostly just that I didn’t get into any trouble and that I made friends with Steven and Amethyst. She seemed pretty approving of that based on what I told her about them. So, I never really lied to her about my school day. I merely told her a half truth. It felt good that she was proud of me. She’d even gotten me a little sunrise succulent for staying out of trouble. It was very pretty with its bright pink leaves and it made me really happy. The only thing I did lie to her about was that I was going to hang out around town with my new friends tonight. In reality, I was actually going to check out Twilight Coast despite recent events. I figured that it’d be the perfect escape from all that's happened today. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is starting to look a lot like a monthly update thing from the looks of it. However, there likely won't be another chapter until after the holiday season because I'm going to shift gears to focus on my holiday fic. I'll see if I can maybe do one more of these this month, but no promises.


End file.
